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Interrogating the social impact of English language teaching policies in Colombia from the vantage point of rural areas

Authors

  • Ferney Cruz-Arcila King's College London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v27i2.117

Keywords:

social impact, social justice, ELT policy, cultural recognition, socioeconomic redistribution

Abstract

Drawing on a larger study of the current state of affairs of English language teaching (ELT) in rural Colombia, this paper interrogates the social impact which education policies promoting English have been associated with. Informed mainly by Nancy Fraser’s theory of social justice, I analyse teachers’ narratives (obtained through interviews and teaching biographies) in an attempt to point at specific issues that need to be considered, in order to more truthfully account for social development through education policy. In doing so, from the angle of ELT in rural contexts, the paper examines where it is that rural regions stand in terms of cultural and socioeconomic arrangements operating in the country. It is suggested that in order to really make ELT policy socially impactful, these wider cultural and socioeconomic arrangements need to be examined, questioned and indeed integrated into policy making.

Author Biography

Ferney Cruz-Arcila, King's College London

Ferney is a PhD candidate in language, discourse and communication at King’s College London. He holds a Masters degree in Applied Linguistics to TEFL (Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Colombia). His research interests centre on bilingual education, the implications of language policies, processes of construction of teacher identity, rural education and the relations of all these elements with issues of social justice.

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Published

18-08-2017

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How to Cite

Cruz-Arcila, F. (2017). Interrogating the social impact of English language teaching policies in Colombia from the vantage point of rural areas. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 27(2), 46–60. https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v27i2.117

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2017): Rural Schools as Hubs for the Socio-Educational Development of Communities

Section

JOURNAL PAPERS

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